Why make art every day?

...because it is good for you. For may of us, the act of creating with our hands and minds is essential to healthy functioning. Using the art process to explore inner and outer worlds, personal and universal experiences, and the never ending questions life presents balances our energies and gives us time to unwind and engage a quieter part of ourselves that today's culture can easily muffle.

I started this blog with hopes of posting some artistic progress every day, and also having others do the same. That didn't exactly happen! At this point, this blog serves as a place where I start my day, think about art and life, and write. I like to write. I like to find neat art things to share. I like to think about life. That is what this blog has turned out to be. Like many things, it has evolved. When I wake up in the morning, I have significant pain and stiffness throughout my body due to rheumatoid arthritis. I have to take medication and then wait a while in order to make it less painful to move around. Writing these posts has become part of my daily routine. I wait, I write. I drink coffee. And listen to parrots chatter away as they watch Arthur and Curious George. Sometimes the posts might be interesting to others, other times they are just self-indulgent brain chatter. Both types of posts are part of being a human and an artist, I think. I am happy to have finally hit on a routine that I can stick to that lets me develop thoughts through writing and share. Even if my blog sits in cyberspace unread, by writing daily I feel like I am priming my artist's pump.

When I teach adult art classes, I often find that students are not in class to learn dramatically new things. They just want the nudge, the push, and the permission to create. They want to hold themselves accountable for making art. They want the time and space to make things. By sharing my process and attitude towards having an "artful life" I hope to provide that nudge, that encouragement, and that permission to creatively engage. Cheers to being an artist and engaging the world with our hands, hearts, and minds!